Family Portrait

[love to learn]

This is my first time posting. Hopefully I am doing it right.

I took this photo of my family:

2010 08 29_0052 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

And I turned it into this using Photoshop Elements 8.



I have actually tried to edit this several times, and I am learning a little more each time. I am very new to photography, and I would love any tips that would make it look less "ameture" (if that is possible with this photo). I am also going to attempt more family pictures this weekend, and I would love any tips (especially any tips about getting everyone in focus). I'm not happy with the crop, but with half of my head missing in the original picture, I did what I could. I also forgot to crop the original picture down by our feet. I'm especially looking for opinions on the saturation and white balance.

EXIF on original picture

Sony a-380
Type- JPEG
Shutter- 1/50
Aperture- 5.60
ISO- 100
Exposure Program- Aperture Priority
Flash- supressed, Did not Fire
Focal Length- 28 mm

Thanks

[MrJones]

actually, the thing that bothers me most is the fact that it's underexposed.
took the liberty of brightening it up and adding contrast, looks much better.
if you want I'll post it here so you'll have a look.

[SuperDan]

it seems a bit warm to me in regards to saturation.
did you preset your white balance? that appears the issue.. on the exif it shows manual but...
you should be proud of the processing and change in background! much improved over the original and I've always wanted to order from zappos... just havent

but, yes, the crops too tight

i can also recommend, that if you used just natural light from a window of the left of the pic, that a reflector or some white board for bounce would have dramatically helped or even some fill flash

good job on getting everyone to sit still

[kristenh]

i'm new to all of this, too, but i have found with kids that a shutter speed of 1/50 is slow and you get fuzziness b/c of motion. that might explain your dissatisfaction with sharpness. i like the posing by the window idea and what about increasing the ISO so the shutter speed can be faster? i'm assuming you're the mom here- can you sit on a high stool to bring your head down into the general vicinity of everybody else's heads?

i'm so impressed that hubby, kids, AND pooch all cooperated with such nice expressions

[oldwolf]

The picture does seem warm to me. I'd manually adjust white balance if possible. To get everyone more in focus I'd use a faster shutter speed as well as a higher f/stop, like f/10 or so.

I agree that the crop is a bit tight but it doesn't bother me as much as the right side of the picture with you and your daughter being very underexposed. Anyway, you can get something to bounce light back into that side of the picture or maybe bring up the exposure a little in post?

[love to learn]

I really appreciate all the help. I did not even see that the right side was under exposed, but now it is very obvious. We actually didn't plan to have the dog in the picture. He came and got in the way just as the camera was ready to fire. I yelled at him to get out of the way, and my husband told him to sit. I think everyone just sat there amused and stunned at how perfectly he posed for the picture. I think that is the only way I could get everyone to sit still. I don't remember what the white balance was for this picture. My battery was threatening to die, and so my main thought was to get the pictures before I lost the chance. I think I didn't even think about checking it. Next time, I plan to shoot in RAW, so hopefully I can tweak a little more if it doesn't work.

Jones- I would love to see your version of the picture.

SuperDan- I love Zappos. We ordered school shoes for the first time this year. One pair didn't fit, and their returns really are hassle free. Definitely recommend them!

I'm excited to try again with your suggestions (I don't think I will ever get the dog to pose again though). Thanks you guys! You are amazing!